The Star of Africa
by PocketSizedWolf
Summary: The TARDIS crash lands in Africa in January 1905. The Doctor and Donna Noble can't resist having a nose around to find out why.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Running his hand over the rough surface of the mine wall, Frederick Wells sighed. He hadn't found a thing in this mine for weeks now. No more diamonds were left, he was sure of it, or if there were, he wasn't going to be the one to find them. Out of the corner of his eye, his torch caught his discarded watch. It was late now, time he got himself home, back to his family, though he knew his wife would complain anyway, always saying he spent too much time at work, not enough with her and their children. He rolled down his sleeves, picking up his watch and strapping it on. The second hand didn't work, it was stuck hovering above the 6, but the watch itself was still working perfectly. Frederick ran a finger over the face. It was a little scratched through years of wear and tear, and the gold paint around the edges was slowly peeling away, but it was his father's watch, he didn't plan on getting rid of it anytime soon. He made his way up the mine, towards the exit, the air becoming clearer, lighter with every step. The warm January air hit his face as he reached the outdoors. It was already dark out, and the sky was glittered with a million stars. Frederick inhaled deeply, glad to be out of the dusty mines in which he spent most of his day. As superintendent, he found he arrived earlier, and left later than all his miners but he didn't really mind. It was a job. It paid pretty well. He set off walking home, it was only ten minutes down the road, after all, just as a pink streak flashed across the sky, falling to earth. A large ship, mistaken by the locals as an asteroid, crash landed ten miles from the nearest civilisation.

"DOCTOR!" Donna Noble's voice boomed over the TARDIS intercom, causing the Doctor to roll his eyes.  
"Donna! I'm busy!" he continued fiddling about with the wires in his hands, placing his sonic screwdriver in his mouth.  
"DOCTOR, GET IN HERE! NOW!" Donna yelled. The Doctor rolled his eyes once more, dropped the wires, and transferred the sonic screwdriver from his mouth to his hand. Donna did have a habit of making him roll his eyes.  
"What is it? This better be important" The Doctor made his way along the TARDIS corridor, stopping next to the second room on the right. The door was open and he stepped inside, glancing around. In the far corner of the room, Donna Noble was hanging from the ceiling, her foot caught in an old rope.  
"Get. Me. Down. Spaceman!" she growled, attempting to rotate her body to face him. The Doctor pursed his lips, trying to hide his laughter. It didn't last long and he burst out laughing, walking the distance of the room in three strides.  
"Oi!" Donna growled, frowning, as the Doctor pressed his sonic screwdrivers to the rope wrapped around her leg  
"Sorry Donna, but that was just very, very funny" he grinned as she dropped onto a pile of pillows that he'd placed below her.  
"I'll show you funny.." she picked herself up, dusting herself down. The TARDIS lurched, shuddering gently. Donna grabbed hold of the rope she had just been hanging from, trying to stop herself falling.  
"Donna! Quick!" The Doctor yelled, grabbing her hand and running with her into the console room.  
"What? What is it?" Donna asked before the TARDIS lurched again, throwing her towards the jump seat. She threw out her hands, clinging to the old, battered chair, as the Doctor struggled to reach the console.  
"I don't know..." he pulled himself around the console, flicking switches, pulling levers and pressing buttons at the speed of light while Donna continued to cling to the jump seat. With a gentle growl, the TARDIS threw Donna off the chair and onto the floor.  
"OW!" she exclaimed, pulling herself to her feet as the TARDIS landed "What happened?"  
"A disturbance of some sort.. Can't work out what... but we're.. somewhere" he glanced to Donna before his concerned look turned to one of excitement and he pulled on his brown coat, striding towards the door. Donna dusted herself down, looking slightly annoyed and made her way, a little more slowly than the Doctor, to the exit.

"I won't" Zina stared at her father, a determined look in her eye. No way in hell was she going to go through with it.  
"You will or you're on your own" Her father sat in a beaten old armchair in the corner of the room, glaring over at his daughter. Zina thought about this threat, her jet black hair clinging to her face and cascading down her back, brushing against her waist. At fourteen years old, she was still quite small for her age, reaching only 5'1. To strangers, she looked frail and weak, but those in the neighbourhood, the boys especially, knew she could run and jump and fight just as hard as they could, or maybe, on a good day, even better than them. Her large brown eyes stared at her father, Ohin, as he rose from his feet, gripped her by the shoulders and gave her a gentle shake  
"We NEED this" he hissed, his face inches from hers. She inwardly flinched, but remained determined on the surface. She wasn't going to be bullied by her father.  
"I can't!"  
"Why not?" he gave her another shake, a little more firm than the previous, his fingers digging into the flesh on her bony arm.  
"I don't love him"  
"What's love got to do with anything?" he growled at her, forcing her up against the wall so hard that her body made a sound against it.  
"You loved Momma.." she fought to keep the tears from her eyes, "Anyway, he's an old man!"  
"So he'll be dead within a few years and you'll inherit it all!" her father's fingers dug into her shoulders, painfully, and Zina winced "All he wants is a pretty little wife who won't answer back for the rest of his days. You can do that"  
"NO!" Zina struggled to pull from his grip. Who was her father kidding? Not answer back? Her?  
"Yes you will! Now get to bed" he let go of her, almost violently. "You're going to him tomorrow, so get a good nights sleep!" he growled at her, walking into his bedroom and slamming the door. Zina rubbed her arms. A bruise had already begun to form on her dark skin, and it already hurt. She blinked, a single tear rolling down her cheek, as she sank to the floor.

"Where ARE we?" Donna asked for what seemed to her to be the millionth time. The Doctor seemed to refuse to answer her as he glanced around, his hands deep inside the pockets of his suit trousers. "I think we're in Africa..."  
"Africa?" Donna looked around "So where are the lions?"  
"And tigers and bears? Come on, Donna.. Africa isn't covered in lions, you know.."  
"Alright, space boy... Why did we crash land in Africa?"  
"We didn't crash land.. we merely... bumped"  
"Bumped? Technical term for crashed?"  
"No, a technical term for..." the Doctor swallowed "bumped." Donna rolled her eyes  
"So is there a reason we.. bumped?"  
"I don't know.." he turned and looked at the TARDIS door, running a hand gently over the wooden opening. "What is it? What's wrong?"  
"Do you two want a minute?" Donna asked sarcastically, frowning at the Doctor. "Do you expect her to answer you?"  
"She usually does" the Doctor stepped away from the TARDIS, walking along a stone path which lead towards a small village in the distance.  
"What? Really?" the Doctor didn't answer, he just continued to walk towards this village. Donna sighed, walking quickly to try and catch up to him. "Doctor!"  
"Come on, slow coach" the Doctor turned, grinning at her, walking backwards for a few steps before turning around. Donna caught up to him, linking her arm through his. "'Bout time..."

It was dark when she slipped outside, but she knew the way like the back of her hand. Making her way along the stone path, slowly, her sandaled feet padded lightly on the dry earth, Zina walked the long walk to the house of the only man who ever understood her. Salah, her beloved Salah, he'd help her, save her from this cruel twisted game her father was playing. He had to. She didn't know how to do it without him. She glanced down at the dust which lay on the path, each step leaving a trail of dusty footprints. Her father would be able to follow her, though in honesty, she knew he'd know where she had gone anyway. Even _he_ was not that foolish. She continued walking, her eyes scanning the expanding darkness that lay before her. Complete darkness.. except.. there was something glowing just on the horizon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

The lid of the oyster shaped ship crept open slowly, a blinding pink light emerging from within, dimming quickly at the hiss of the engine turning off. Two large figures clambered out with as much grace as two blind elephants, whispering to one another in hushed voices, the light from the ship only just showing their outlines.  
"I thought you said it was here.." the larger one growled in a low voice, scratching his pig-like nose.  
"It is.. I'm sure of it.." the other figure looked up at his friend, and boss, and pulled out a small item which looked like a cross between the standard Earth PDA and a small satellite dish. "Look.." he pointed at the screen and his friend grunted in reply.  
"Look at the date, Ophamech..." the larger figure pointed a stubby finger at the top corner of the screen, which read _January 25th 1905._  
"What about it?" Ophamech looked up, clearly puzzled.  
"It hasn't been found yet!" the larger creature growled, running a hand through the short about of hair he had before whacking Ophamech over the back of the head "Now what do we do?"  
"Well, it's not the end of the world, Chapivosh" Ophamech shrugged "Only a few hours to go.."

"Where are we going?" Donna asked, clearly irritated. They'd been walking now for what felt like hours and the noise the insects were making in the tall grass they were currently walking through was slightly creeping her out, and slightly just bugging the hell out of her.  
"Donna..." the Doctor had, by now, pulled out his sonic screwdriver and was using it to scan the area for.. well, whatever had made the TARDIS crash land.  
"Well you always have me walking aimlessly.."  
"Never aimlessly, Donna.. there's always a point... most of the time" he flashed her a grin before raising his sonic screwdriver to his ear, listening to the gentle buzzing. "I just.. can't work it out"  
"What is it?" Donna raised an eyebrow, her eyes scanning the surrounding area as she secretly looked for lions while contemplating just why the Doctor was always full of contradictions. Not that she really minded, it was more interesting that way.  
"There's two signals..."  
"And that means?"  
"I'm not sure yet.."  
"Oh, well that's helpful" she replied, sarcastically, glancing around once more before looking straight at the Doctor who'd begun searching through his pockets.  
"What are you doing?"  
"I'm looking for a torch or something.. It's pretty dark.. Are you always so full of questions?"  
"Do you have to ask that? Really?"  
"See.. two in that one sentence.. Ah-ha.." he grinned, pulling out a wind-up torch and beginning to wind it up.  
"Trust you to have a wind-up torch" Donna mocked, but was secretly glad of the break in the darkness.  
"Well it saves on batteries.."

A rustling in the grass caused her to stop, her eyes scanning the darkness for whatever it was. Zina wasn't usually afraid of the night time, even in Africa. She liked to believe that she knew the darkness well enough, having snuck out every night for over a year, to not be afraid of it and yet, the continuous rustling in the grass had her heart racing.  
"Hello?" she called out, not expecting a reply. Hearing a growl, she wanted to scream but she knew that would provoke an attack. Instead, she froze to the spot, her heart still racing, her brain ticking away for a way out.

"Seriously, Donna, there's no lions here" the Doctor gave his red-haired companion a reassuring grin, offering her his arm, which she linked her own through. She'd seen the Doctor battle aliens, free enslaved species and stare death in the face several times and yet, she wasn't sure that, should they come across a large African wild cat, he'd be able to fight it off.  
"Yeah, you say that now.." she watched the light from his torch as it highlighted the grass before them, making their every step safer. "But what happens if we come across one?"  
"I'll deal with it"  
"Talk to animals now, do you?" The Doctor gave her a look and shook his head, continuing to walk.

Her breathing hitched a degree, her heart still racing as her eyes scanned the darkness. The only light was that from the moon and it wasn't really enough for her eyes to see properly. Yet, she could still make out the figure in the grass and could still tell it was a lioness. Her crouched position told Zina that this was a lioness on the hunt, a lioness ready to kill. She couldn't take her eyes off the powerful front legs extended in front of the magnificent beast, until.. was that a light?

Chapivosh and Ophamech made their way quickly along a narrow dirt track, occasionally banging into one another as they walked. Their huge build made it difficult for the two creatures to walk side by side along the track. Huge arms knocked against one another.  
"Stop it" Chapivosh snarled, nudging Ophamech hard enough for him to step backwards slightly, easing Chapivosh's walk along the path.  
"Where are we going?" Ophamech asked, rubbing his arm where he'd been shoved.  
"We're going to find somewhere to hide out, until it's discovered.."  
"Oh. Ok.." they continued walking, past grassy plains, towards a small village that lay in the distance, their every step shaking the ground around them. They kicked down the first door they came across, planning to hide inside until the early morning.  
"Hey, what--" a tall, thin boy of seventeen jumped up from his chair and stared at the beings. In the candlelight, his eyes trailed over their bodies, widening at their huge, bulging muscles before falling upon the faces of the invaders. He gasped, stepping back, thinking his eyes were lying. They had the faces of warthogs, huge white tusks curling from their mouths towards their pig-noses, sharp and pointed. "What are you?" the boy stepped behind his chair, as if it would protected him from the horrid creatures. Before he could say anything else, Chapivosh pulled a large gun out of the holster on his hip and aimed it straight between the boys eyes.

"Did you hear that?" Donna asked as the sound of a far off gunshot reached her ears and her grip on the Doctor's arm increased. He frowned slightly, nodding.  
"Yeah.. Probably someone warning off lions" he smirked sideways, earning himself a hit on the arm from Donna.  
"Ouch, what was that for"  
"Don't joke about it!"  
"Donna! Come on, there are no.." the Doctor's voice trailed off and Donna's eyes instantly shot from his face to the beam of the torch. "lions.." he finished as his eyes trailed over the large lioness which lay crouched in the grass before them, facing in the same direction.  
"Ok.." Donna whispered softly, noting that the lioness didn't even look towards her as she spoke "What do we do?"

"Someone will have heard that" Ophamech hissed to his boss as he looked at the lifeless, bleeding body of the boy on the floor  
"And?"  
"Well, we don't want to attract attention.. We should leave.." Chapivosh spun towards him, a snarl on his face  
"I'm the boss.."  
"I was just giving you my opinion, sir.." Ophamech shrugged. Chapivosh considered this for a minute before nodding, heading out of the door.  
"The closer we are to the mine, the better anyway..."

The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out his sonic screwdriver, handing the wind-up torch to Donna before fiddling with the screwdriver for a few seconds. Quickly and quietly, he leaned down next to the lioness and pushed the button. The effect was immediate. The lioness arched her back as though yawning, before turning her head to look at the Doctor. Her eyes twitched and she backed away, growling softly at him. Donna could feel her heart pounding, she could see this ending terribly. Time and Space and aliens and unimaginable things and a simple African lion finished off the Doctor? How unsatisfying. The lioness roared, but it wasn't aggressive, it was full of fear and pain as the sound from the sonic screwdriver hurt her ears. Within seconds, she was gone. Donna released a breath she hadn't even known she was holding and ran to hug the Doctor.  
"Well I didn't realise you could do THAT" she smiled, impressed before glancing at the beam of light which fell from the torch.

Zina remained frozen to the spot as she watched the happenings before her. The two strangers hadn't seemed to notice her, but they'd scared off the lioness, which was pretty helpful in preventing her from becoming big cat food. She looked up just as the woman's light covered her.  
"Hello" Donna Noble smiled down at the girl, stepping towards her. The Doctor grinned, shoving his hands into his pockets and following Donna onto the dusty path. "I'm Donna, this is the Doctor.. What's your name?"  
"Zina" she replied softly, her eyes resting on the gentle faces of her unintentional rescuers. "You.. scared it off.." she nodded her head towards here the lion had run. Donna laughed slightly  
"HE scared it off.. he's good at scaring things"  
"Oi!" the Doctor frowned at her before smiling at Zina. "Zina? Pleased to meet you. Lovely in fact.. Erm.. We're a little.. lost, I'm afraid.."  
"Oh.. Well.." Zina looked from the Doctor's smiling face to Donna's "I'd love to show you where everything is, but you'd better come with me until morning.. It's dangerous at night."  
"I can see that.." the Doctor nodded, rocking on the balls of his feet "Ok, we'll follow, you lead" he smiled before looking at Donna, whose eyes were glancing over the girl or, more accurately, over the bruises on the girl's arms. The Doctor, spotting what Donna was looking at, inhaled sharply. "Zina.. has someone hurt you?"  
Zina looked down at her arms, running her hands over them to try and hide the bruises. "It's... nothing.." she smiled, before starting to walk once more.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

As the sun crept gently over the horizon, Frederick Wells pulled himself out of bed making sure not to disturb his wife. If he'd had a shilling for every time he was told off for waking her up, he'd be a millionaire by now. Chuckling to himself lightly at this thought, he slipped one arm into the sleeve of a red checked shirt, pulling it fully on while reaching for his brown corduroy trousers. Once he was fully dressed, he made his way down the wooden stairs of his home, grabbing a slice of bread from the cupboard and taking a bite from it.  
"Great.. stale bread" he whispered sarcastically, pulling open the door and tossing it onto the grass before pulling on his boots. Glancing up at the sky, he smiled to himself, pulling the door closed behind him. If there was anything he loved about Africa, it was mornings like this, when everything was relatively calm and totally beautiful. The smile remained on his face as he walked to work.

From their hiding place outside the mine, Ophamech watched the entrace to the mine closely, while Chapivosh slept beside him. Glancing down at his boss, Ophamech grumbled. Why was he always the one stuck doing the work? Because he was smaller and weaker? Probably. Because Chapivosh was just a bully? Maybe. Because Ophamech was scared of the bigger, stronger man? Definitely. He glanced down at the object he had been carrying earlier. It was still 12 hours until it was discovered, and the pair of aliens would just have to wait until then. They couldn't disrupt the time line. Chapivosh grunted and rolled over in his sleep, causing Ophamech to look up from the device and remember what he was supposed to be doing. He turned and glanced back over to the mine entrance, just in time to see a man in a red checked shirt and a pair of brown corduroy trousers slipping inside.  
"What time is it?" Donna Noble's voice broke the comfortable silence that lay between the three figures walking along the dusty path.  
"Five minutes since you last asked" the Doctor glanced at her before grinning  
"Well, what time was it five minutes ago?"  
"5:55" the Doctor shoved his hands into his pockets as he and his companion walked behind their pretty African tour guide. So far, she'd showed them the water hole where the various animals would come to drink, and a strange rock that Donna thought looked oddly like Pride Rock from the Lion King. Now, they were following her to where she had been going in the first place and then they were being shown the local diamond mine.  
"God, travelling through Time and Space sure does funny things to your body clock.." Donna muttered to herself, glancing around at the grassy fields around them.  
"Wide awake or really sleepy?" the Doctor asked, amused as he glanced at his ginger companion  
"Wide awake" Donna replied, rolling her eyes.  
"We're nearly there" Zina's gentle voice reached their ears and they both turned their heads to look at her.  
"Brilliant" the Doctor grinned, pulling his hands out of his pocket and fiddling with his sonic screwdriver.  
"What are you doing?" Donna hissed, glancing between the Doctor and Zina. If the girl had noticed anything, she'd decided not to ask.  
"I.. something's off.." he shrugged, fiddling with the different controls of the screwdriver.  
"Oh something's off.. that's enlightening, thank you" she rolled her eyes. After a few minutes walking, they stopped outside a wooden shack and Zina gasped in horror. The Doctor and Donna looked at what she was staring at. The door to the hut had been knocked off it's hinges and lay flat on the floor.  
"That's.. never good" Donna muttered to the Doctor who frowned at her briefly, pressing a button on the sonic screwdriver and listening to the gentle humming. Zina stepped forward, looking into the hut and very nearly fainting. Her eyes were instantly drawn to the thick blood which lay in a pool on the floor, before flicking up to the source. His eyes were still open and stared straight through her as she stepped slowly towards him. Salah, her only allie in the emotional battle against her father, was no longer here to help her. What was she going to do now? Donna and the Doctor stood in the doorway, watching as the young girl made her way towards the lifeless boy before crouching down and closing his eyes. Tears ran down her cheeks and Donna, being Donna, instantly ran towards her and pulled her into a hug, comforting the girl. The Doctor glanced over the body. It never got any easier, seeing dead people, it never would. Frowning, he looked at the wound, biting on his lip before glancing at Donna and mouthing one word. _Alien._


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

The noise from the mine echoed around the surrounding area, the metal of the pickaxe against the tough stones producing a loud clanging which was even heard through the thick ear muffs that each of the miners had to wear as standard. It was no wonder that many of them developed problems with their hearing, and the dust created by the splitting stones played hell with their lungs. Frederick Wells wanted to retire, he thought as he sat in the corner of the mine, on a tall metal stool, watching his men hacking into the wall. He was all ready. If today proved to be pointless, like yesterday, and the day before, and every day for the past four weeks, he had his notice written, and he was going to buy a goat, or something.  
Outside, Chapivosh rolled over, his eyes snapping open.  
"Have we missed it?" he growled, looking over at Ophamech who remained propped up, looking over to the mine entrance. He knew they had to wait until all the workers left, until the sun was nearly setting. It wouldn't be long now, it was already midday.  
"No.. 6 hours left"  
"Jeeze, this planet is so dull.." Chapivosh grunted, standing up and stretching, kicking aside the odd device they had brought with them "And I'm STARVING. What do we have to eat?"  
Ophamech shrugged, pulling out a packet of dessert pellets and handing them over to his boss, who snatched them instantly, pouring the whole bag into his mouth as Ophamech watched.  
"That was all we had.."  
"Then we'll have to get something else later.."

The Doctor glanced up at the sky with a soft sigh, before glancing over at Donna, who sat on a striped deck chair .  
"Now THIS is what I wanted.." she smiled, lowering her sunglasses that she'd managed to remember to bring until they sat below her eyes and she could look directly at the Doctor. He wondered, briefly, why she had sunglasses. Then again, with her entire wardrobe in the TARDIS, it was especially hard for her to NOT have a certain item of dress. The Doctor raised an eyebrow  
"Where did you get a deck chair?"  
"It was inside the hut.." the Doctor shook his head, pulling his sonic screwdriver from out of his pocket and scanning the area for what must have been the millionth time.  
"Found anything yet?" Donna asked, placing her sunglasses back over her eyes and leaning back slightly. The Doctor glanced over to her  
"You'll burn, you know, and I'm not rubbing Aloe Vera over your skin when you do"  
"I'll take that as a no, then" the corners of Donna's mouth twitched, almost forming a smile before the Doctor looked over at her.  
"I can't work it out.." he stopped short, looking over to Zina as she returned. Over the past few hours, she had informed the local.. well Donna could only think of them as 'police' but officially, they weren't.. and had returned home for breakfast with her father. She didn't, after all, want him to know that she'd run away the previous night, nor did she want him to know she had been the one who found Salah's broken body.  
"Everything ok?" Donna asked the girl as she walked towards them, before instantly regretting it. "Sorry, stupid question, but, I meant.. at home" Zina smiled softly at Donna before nodding.  
"Dad's gone to work, after work he'll... well.. that's not important" she shrugged. What she hadn't wanted to say was that when her father got home, she'd be taken to live with her future 'husband', a man she hated, no matter how much money he had.  
"Well.. about time we.." the Doctor started before his eyes spotted something covered by the grass. Frowning, he knelt down and brushed aside the long strands of green which covered what he thought might be a clue.  
"Footprint." Donna said as she knelt down beside him, having previously gotten up from the deck chair as he spotted it. In a hushed voice, she continued to speak to the Doctor "Alien?"  
"Could be.. Looks like it could also be a random footprint from a random animal"  
"Can't you check?"  
"Watch me" he grinned, scanning the muddy footprint with his sonic screwdriver, a smile on his face. He held the small instrument up to his ear and nodded "Alien"

"God it's so hot" Donna complained as she followed the Doctor and Zina.  
"You could have gotten changed at the TARDIS" the Doctor smirked, fiddling with wires as he walked. Zina walked silently beside him, carrying the sonic screwdriver like he'd asked her to. She had just been inside the TARDIS and was still in some sort of confused trance. As the Doctor and Donna had expected, she'd walked in and gasped 'It's bigger on the inside' to which they'd both beamed. Now, she was just in shock.  
"Well, I didn't want to get changed, I was too interested in what you were doing.." Donna sighed. Why did the Doctor never seem cold, or hot, no matter where they landed? On the Oodsphere, she'd been there, full duffel coat, complete with fur rimmed hood. He'd been there in his suit, seeming unaffected by the weather. _Lucky git_.  
"Speaking of which..." Donna sped up a little until she was walking level with the Doctor and Zina "What WERE you doing?"  
"I was.. fiddling"  
"Another technical term? Do you even know what these aliens are?"  
"Another round of questions?" The Doctor looked amused. Sometimes he DID love winding Donna up. Though, when she looked as though she was about to punch him in the face, he knew it was time to stop. "Yes, I know what they are.. They're jewel thieves"

At 1pm, the whistle blew, and each of the miners walked, single file, towards the lunch room. It wasn't exactly a "lunch room", merely rows of wooden benches at which they could eat their packed lunches before the afternoon shift began. Frederick stood in the entrance to the mine, looking through the buckets given to him by the workers, finding nothing. He was sure of it, there was nothing left to find, and the companies who owned the mine were searching for things which no longer existed. He sighed, emptying the last bucket of dirt onto the floor. He was definitely quitting tonight.

"Jewel thieves?" Donna glanced at the Doctor with her eyebrow raised, "What do you mean Jewel Thieves?"  
"You know.. Thieves who steal jewels"  
"Yeah, thanks, I got that" Donna rolled her eyes, glancing briefly at Zina before looking back at the Doctor. "But.. what are they doing here?"  
"Zina.." the Doctor looked at the young girl, his eyes wide in that way they got when he finally realised something. "What date is it?"  
"It's January 26th"  
"What year?"  
"1905" Zina smiled softly "Why?"  
The Doctor frowned, repeating "January 26th, 1905" a few times before exclaiming "YES! That's it!"  
"What?" Donna looked at him, a puzzled expression upon her face "What's January 26th 1905?"  
"It's the day the Star of Africa was discovered." The Doctor told them both, "And they've come to take it."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

"The Star of Africa?" Donna repeated, her eyebrows raised in a _What the hell are you talking about_ kind of way. "What's the--"  
"It's a diamond.. A BIG diamond.." the Doctor looked at Donna, lowering his voice slightly and speaking in that rushed way he did when something was important. "These aliens travel through Time and Space, finding the Universe's precious gems and taking them soon after they're discovered. It's like stealing from Museums, but easier" Donna nodded, and he continued "Usually, planets have defences against them, but obviously Earth in 1905 doesn't even know aliens exist"  
"Right.. so what do we do?" Donna asked him concerned "Because I'm sure in my time that.. this diamond.. probably sits in some museum or something?"  
"It's in the Tower of London, part of the Crown Jewels" he told her  
"You have a plan, right? Tell me you have a plan"  
"I have a plan" he grinned, continuing to fiddle with the wires. Donna glanced sideways at Zina, who still had a look of confusion and shock written on her face.  
"Well?"  
"Well what?"  
"The plan?"  
"Oh right.. Well, if I can configure this little system" he lifted up the mass of wire and metal he was fiddling with "it can pull them into this" he lifted up a small diamond, the type sold in engagement rings in the present day "and keep them locked there forever.."  
"Sound like a plan." Donna smiled  
"Though.."  
"Though?"  
"We.. well.. the thing is.. I'm going to have to be stood between them for it to work."  
"What? But.." Donna frowned "You'll be pulled in."  
"Yeah"  
"Isn't there another--"  
"No, Donna, this is it. If they get hold of these diamonds, they could do colossal damage" the Doctor explained, his eyes fixed on Donna, though occasionally glancing at Zina. The girl looked as though she was still in shock, though the Doctor didn't know whether it was over the TARDIS or the loss of her love.

The zebra carcass lay on the African floor, ripped open with it's internal organs missing. Chapivosh and Ophamech sat watching the mine's entrance as Sir Thomas Cullinan, the mines owner, left after one of his regular visits, licking the blood from their lips.  
"Told you we'd find something else" Chapivosh grunted, licking the traces of Zebra heart off his fingers. Ophamech merely grunted.  
"Are we close?" Chapivosh continued, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand, before looking at his smaller companion  
"Only 60 minutes to go.."  
"Brilliant" Chapivosh grinned, his thin, sharp teeth forming a cruel smile.

"You can't just give yourself up. I'll be stuck here, for one" Donna barked. She'd spent the past 40 minutes trying to convince the Doctor to find another way of defeating these Jewel Thieves.  
"Donna. It's decided, alright? The TARDIS will take you home, I've taught you how to activate Emergency Protocol One, that'll get you home."  
"I can't go without you! The universe needs you" she frowned at him. This was the second time he'd done this to her recently, what with the time on Earth during the Sontaran invasion. She could kill him.  
"Donna, I'm doing it, end of." he gave her a look, which told her to stop, especially in company. At that, they both looked at Zina. Feeling their eyes upon her, she looked up, suddenly feeling very small.  
"Still in shock, Zina?" the Doctor asked, a hint of pride in his voice, as often happened when he thought about the TARDIS. She nodded slightly, before shrugging  
"That box was a lot to take in.. And now you're telling me there's aliens on the loose.. it's all very strange" she shrugged again, glancing around. "We're nearly there.."

Frederick Wells decided to make a last routine inspection trip through the mine before he handed in his notice. Eighteen feet below the surface of the Earth, his attention was attracted by something reflecting the last slanting rays of the setting sun. Quickly, he scaled the wall and extracted from the blueground what appeared to be a large diamond crystal.  
"What the--" he frowned, thinking he was being fooled by a large piece of glass and beginning the walk to the outside world, where he could inspect it more closely.

"It's time" the two large warthog-like creatures pulled themselves to their feet, walking quickly over to the mine entrance just in time to see Frederick Wells emerging. He was glancing at the diamond in his hand, his eyes facing downwards until, through the clear glass, he spotted two large shadows on the floor. Following them upwards, he gasped. _What on Earth?_ They approached him, the larger one sticking a needle into his neck and before he knew it, his eyes were closing and the diamond was gone from his hand.  
"Finally" Chapivosh grinned his wicked grin once more as he and Ophamech walked from the mine, the Star of Africa sat in his hand.  
"Yeah, now we have enough diamonds to wipe out the universe"  
"Oh you don't want to do that" A voice came from behind them, and they turned, coming face to face with The Doctor.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"Oh? And why is that?" Chapivosh narrowed his eyes, glaring at the Doctor through thick tufts of eyebrow. The Doctor shoved his hands into his pockets, striding over to them, or as close as they let him get before they began to back away.  
"Well, because, for one.." the Doctor started before Donna and Zina appeared behind him.  
"Oh god" Donna gasped "They look like that Bebop from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"  
"The what?" Zina looked at Donna with a raised eyebrow, stepping behind her in fright. She'd never seen aliens before, she'd never known what to expect, but what stood before her horrified her. She gripped Donna's hand like a frightened child would cling to her mother.  
"Thanks for that Donna" The Doctor turned, giving her a look before facing the aliens once more "Anyway, someone threatening destruction of the Universe means I have to step in, and you don't want that. So I'm giving you a choice, you give that back, or I have to stop you"

The aliens pretended to think for a moment, before laughing in the Doctor's face, a harsh cruel laugh which made the hairs on Donna's arms stand on end. She loved travelling with the Doctor, loved time and space and everything in between, but she did hate some of the people she met. Luckily, as the young girl's hand tightened on hers, she also remembered how she hated leaving some people behind.  
"I don't think so. We have the last diamond we need, you can't stop us."  
"I think you'll find I can" the Doctor pulled out his device, stepping towards them. They stared at his machine, distracted for a minute, probably noticing the diamond set into the centre. It was just enough time for the Doctor to take the larger diamond from Chapivosh's hand and throw it to Donna.

"Get it back!" Chapivosh barked and they both stepped away from the Doctor, and over to Donna, who cautiously stepped backwards with their every forward movement until her back was pressed against a wooden fence. Instinctively, she handed the diamond to Zina who, upon taking it securely into her hands, ran. She ran passed the Doctor, taking his device from him before he realised she'd even left Donna's side. She was going to be the one sacrificing her life. Yes, she was young, but she was about to enter into a life she didn't want, one she wouldn't be happy with. The Doctor saved lives, and this way, he could go on saving lives, saving the universe.

Chapivosh and Ophamech chased after her, they were quick, almost as quick as her, but not quite. Suddenly, Zina stopped and spun on her heel to face them. They were metres away, close enough that she could see every line on their faces. She glanced at the Doctor and then at Donna before throwing the diamond towards them. The Doctor caught it, one handed, a feat he probably would have been proud of if he hadn't seen what was coming.  
"Zina.. Don't" he called out, but he knew it was pointless. She'd decided. Within a second of the diamond leaving her hands, Chapivosh had gripped her around the throat, squeezing the air from her lungs as she struggled to press together the two pieces which would pull the three of them into the tiny diamond.

With a spark, the parts connected, and the trio became trapped within beams of light, gradually shrinking. Zina's body fell to the ground, motionless and broken as the beams of light pulled Chapivosh and Ophamech into the diamond. Within minutes, they were trapped forever. Donna gasped, running over to Zina and turning her onto her back.  
"There has to be something we can do.." she said, tears running down her cheeks.  
"Donna.." the Doctor had a warning tone in his voice as he pulled his red-haired companion backwards slightly  
"What? What are you doing? We can help her!" Donna struggled against him, fighting him to get back to the teenager, knocking the diamond he still held out of his hand and onto the floor. "She saved us, we have to help--" Donna stopped moving, her eyes fixed on Zina's lifeless body as it began to glow, shimmering in the light  
"What the--" she turned her head to look at the Doctor's face  
"After effect.. Like the after shock of an Earthquake" he whispered slightly  
"But.. What?!" Zina's body broke into millions of pieces, each one glittering beneath the setting sun, floating in the gentle breeze. The Star of Africa rolled across the dirt floor towards where Zina's body had lay moments earlier and all of a sudden, the millions of shimmering pieces were pulled, like paperclips towards a magnet, into the diamond. Letting go of Donna, the Doctor picked it up, smiling sadly as the diamond sparkled, more than it had before.

Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor leaned against the jump seat, staring at the console, an almost pained expression upon his face.  
"She wanted it" Donna spoke softly, her eyes echoing the pained look on his face. She had liked Zina, part of her had wanted to take her travelling with them in the TARDIS, the other part wanted to mother her.  
"She had so much to look forward to, Donna.. She was 14" the Doctor spoke for the first time since they had gotten back, shifting himself until he was actually seated on the jump seat.  
"I know.. Believe me, I know... But we have to keep on going, keep on finding new places, new planets, saving lives. For her.. for all of them.." Donna thought briefly of Jenny, of Pompeii, even of Lance. People who had died, suffered at the hands of aliens, all people who had died so the Doctor could go on saving people, and a small tear ran down her cheek, sparkling like the Star of Africa.


End file.
